Viking's Apprentice
by TreepeltA113
Summary: Skandians are ruthless killing machines. At least, that's what Will thinks. Then he met the boy in the woods. Post-movie/Ruins of Gorlan.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: My first Ranger's Apprentice story! Yeah, it's mixed with HTTYD. Anyways...it's all in the summary, I guess...have fun reading!**

The black arrow whizzed through the air and smacked into a half-dead pine tree, burying the head entirely and leaving it quivering. The small rump below it disappeared while it's owner yelped in surprise.

Halt lowered his longbow, already nocked with another arrow out of habit. "I warned you, Will," he growled. "Watch that butt of yours or it's going down the hard way."

Will stuck his brown-haired head over the log. "Sorry, Halt."

"Don't tell me. Tell the Hibernian swordsmen." The Ranger replaced the arrow in his quiver. "Come on, it's getting dark. And it's no good sneaking up on anyone on an empty stomach."

The boy, whose belly had just given a particularly loud complaint, blushed and said, "Yes, sir!" Will bounded over to his side. "Want me to get the firewood?"

"Be quick about it." Halt watched his apprentice race off and shook his head. They boy had talent and intuition, but even that couldn't fill the gap in stealth. Halt began making his own silent way back to the cabin as Will's footfalls died away.

* * *

><p>Will heaved the load on his back once he was satisfied with the size of it and began walking back. Through the trees, he could just make out the house's outline and two shaggy ponies grazing beside it.<p>

As Will stopped to shift the wood on his back, he heard a crack. Someone was behind him. He fought the urge to whirl around and let them know of his awareness and therefore lose his advantage. Halt had drilled that into him several times now. Instead, Will turned casually around to tug at his boots, pretending that he'd gotten a twig stuck in them, while laying down the dead branches and scanning the surrounding forest. He couldn't see anybody, but someone's presence lurked nearby.

His hand shaking slightly, Will grasped his small throwing knife and pulled it out of the double scabbard. He hid his movements within the gray and green cloak he wore.

By now, the unseen person's movements had helped Will locate him, about ten feet behind the tree to his right. Will walked as quietly as he could, keeping his grip on the knife, and whipped around the trunk and held the weapon up to…a boy's throat! Will fastened his arm around his neck, and that was when he saw them. Two horns screwed into a metal helmet atop the skinny boy's head.

_Skandian!_

Will tightened his grip. "Well?" he demanded. "Where's the ambush?"

"What?" The boy's trembling hand over his own made Will think forcibly of himself. The young Skandian wore a long-sleeved green tunic, a bearskin vest and dark pants with fur boots. _I don't think they wear fur boots… _"The rest of you," he said sharply. "Don't you always travel in packs?"

The flat of the blade moved as he swallowed. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said weakly. "It's just me."

Will glanced around suspiciously. There were no bulky figures hiding behind rocks that he could see. Besides, Halt said Skandians didn't use stealth half as much as they did brute force. Most likely, if he didn't see them, they weren't there. He stepped back, and the boy almost fell over with the unexpected removal of support. No, Will realized, it wasn't that. Where the Skandian's left foot should have been was a wood and metal contraption, spring-loaded and weather-worn.

Will looked back up at his face. He stared back defiantly. _He's used to people staring at that, _Will noted. Out loud, he asked, "What's your name?"

"Hiccup H—" He seemed to catch himself. "Hiccup. Just Hiccup."

Will raised an eyebrow, just like Halt would. "Hiccup." What kind of a name was that? "Weapons?"

He lifted his brown fur aside to show an empty leather belt. Will also noticed that he was wearing a funny-looking sort of harness over his shirt, with two straps crossing his chest and another two dangling from his waist and ending in metal circles.

Will gestured at it. "What's that for?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I use it to hold on while I'm riding my dragon."

The answer was so casual that Will almost missed the last part. He chuckled. "Sorry," he apologized. "I thought you said 'dragon.'"

The boy nodded. "Yeah."

Will stared at him. "But there's no dragons around here."

"But…" Hiccup looked stunned. "Yes, there are! Where are you from?"

"Castle Redmont." Will ruffled his hair. "Where are _you _from?" He was beginning to feel all point had dropped out of the conversation.

"Berk…I'm still _on _Berk, aren't I?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Of course, you Skandians might call Araluen Berk, so I don't—"

Hiccup interrupted him. "Skandians?"

Will nodded. "Aren't you Skandian?"

"No…" He looked completely lost.

Will sighed. _He's either insane, an amnesiac, or really, really slow. _"Look," he decided, "I don't know who you are or where you come from, but I've got to take you to see someone."

"It's not a healer, is it?"

Will snorted. "No."

"Well, all right then."

Before they started walking, Will tested the…well, the "non-Skandian." "So," he said carefully, "do you know what year it is?"

Hiccup looked at him as though he were crazy. "Of course. 381 A.D."

_Amnesiac, _Will thought.

* * *

><p>Halt started as someone knocked loudly on the door. "Halt!" said Will's muffled voice. "You have to see this!"<p>

The Ranger sighed and stood up to open the door. "Will, if this is another raccoon, I—"

He was cut short at the sight at the door.

Two boys of the same age and stature were on the threshold. One was Will, carrying a load of wood on his back. The other was…Halt couldn't believe it. A Skandian boy!

Halt looked at Will in incredulity. "Will," he said in a low voice. "You do know this is a—"

"Skandian." Will nodded. "I know. But he's hit his head or something," he whispered. "Thinks it's 381 A.D. and that dragons are real."

"Goodness." Halt appraised the boy again. "He'd better come in, then." He opened the door wider, and both Will and the young Skandian that had missed the short exchange walked inside.

Halt started a fire. "Have a seat, boy," he said, watching him stand uncomfortably by the door. He sat down on a stool at the table. Will set the wood down next to the hearth and sat down next to him. When the stew was finished, Halt dished it out and for a moment, the cabin was filled with the sounds of spoons against bowls.

"Now then," Halt said, pushing his bowl out and away from him. "Let's get a few things straight." He nodded at the newcomer, who swallowed his broth and watched him cautiously. "Your name is…?"

"Hiccup, sir."

The Ranger's eyebrows traveled up his forehead. "Hiccup?" he repeated. "Odd name."

"I'd say yours are just as strange," the boy replied defensively. "I mean, Halt and Will? Those are everyday words, not names."

_And this is coming from someone who was named after a jump in the gut. _"Well," Halt mused, "I suppose they are now." He motioned at Will. "Will here told me you had a certain, ah, interest in…dragons, was it?"

Hiccup nodded vigorously.

"Would you mind telling me what kind?"

Will looked at him as though he had lost it, but Halt knew if he could pinpoint the legends this boy had learned, he could figure out which specific part of Araluen he belonged in.

"Oh, all sorts!" He began listing on his fingers. "Gronckles, Deadly Nadders, Zipplebacks, Monstrous Nightmares, Thunderdrums…"

Halt gave Will a blank look. Will shrugged. "I'm afraid…"

"…we don't know what you're talking about," his apprentice finished.

Hiccup looked crestfallen. "Not even Night—" He suddenly choked on the word, looking pale in the firelight.

"Night what?" Will urged him.

Hiccup jumped up and ran for the door. "Night Furies!" he hollered over his shoulder. Then, before either of them could stop him, he ran out the front door into the evening and shouted at the sky.

The door banged shut. Will glanced at his mentor. "Did he say 'toothless?'" he questioned.

Halt had already scooped his longbow from its resting place against the wall. "Skandian or not," he muttered, "the fool's going to get himself killed."

**Well? Shall I continue?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Gee, sorry about that. It took a while, but I'm glad you all are sticking to it. Thanks to the many favorite story/story alert additions, and I love all of your reviews! I'd like to see a little bit more about what I'm doing well, though, so as an incentive, I'm going to respond to the more interesting ones here.(Also because I'm too lazy to send PMs and they clog up my inbox.) BTW, you guys cracked me up.:)I had no idea you guys would like this so much!**

**Anyone who told ****me to hurry up: I did, I did! Here it is!**

**Prototron MJ Tornada: Hang onto your onions and car battery, there. If you kill me, you won't get to hear the rest of the story, and I don't think everyone else would like that.**

**Dragonwing325: Mwahahaha, you vill have to wait like everyone else! I'm a cliff hanger person, watch out.**

**Nova Bucker: Toothless _does _make everything awesome, doesn't he? Enjoy!**

**bystanderwitnessing: No, what do you mean?, probably scholar, it takes place about a week after the movie, he's still a teenager, there's no more dragons (unless I decide to throw Stormfly in there, see bottom), HICCUP IS NOT A DRAGON SLAYER, nope.**

The orange light of the fading sunset was quickly fading into lavender dusk. Shadows made every surface look deeper and more craggy than it actually was.

In the coming night, it was all Will could do to keep up with the boy from the woods. Despite the fake leg, he was still pretty fast and had an enormous head start. Hiccup would sprint for a few hundred meters, stop and yell "Toothless!" and then dart off in a different direction. Finally, as he repeated the pattern again, Will was able to lurch forward and cover his mouth.

"Shhh!" he hissed, as Hiccup struggled. "Trust me, screaming at twilight is _not _what you want to do around here." He stopped moving and nodded; Will released him. "Sorry," Hiccup said softly. "I just—"

He stopped and the pair turned as a horse trotted up to them. Halt reined in his mount, Abelard, and stared at the boys in exasperation. "What were you thinking?" he huffed. "It's dangerous out here. Between the Wargals and the boars, I'm surprised you're still alive."

"But I was only looking for—" Hiccup was interrupted yet again as Abelard began to whinny and shy away from the boys.

"What—" Will tried to ask why Abelard had spooked, but Halt silenced him with an upraised hand. Above the neighs of the horse, Will could hear a roaring screech, like the sound of metal scraping over metal.

Will glanced at Hiccup in a panic. Was that…was that a smile? "Night Fury," he said under his breath. Will didn't know what that was, let alone why the boy was grinning. If anything, the beast sounded savage and starving. "Get down!" Will urged, tugging at Hiccup's arm. "Come on!"

Halt dismounted and drew his bow, searching the surrounding forest for any sign of the creature. "NO!" Hiccup shouted, leaping forward. "Don't shoot!"

Halt stepped back. "Get under cover, Hiccup!" He pulled the bowstring taut. The screeching grew louder, and the sounds of snapping branches and leaves began to emerge. Apparently, the whatever-it-was was smashing straight through trees and undergrowth with ease.

Hiccup seemed on the verge of a panic attack. He whirled around, cupped his hands near his mouth, and yelled, "Toothless! Get clear!"

Will's jaw dropped. "Hiccup, what are you doing?" he cried out.

The crashing and roaring stopped with one last _flump. _The boy turned and glared at the two of them.

"Don't tell me you two are dragon-killers, too."

Halt lowered his bow and threw an exasperated look at Will. "I hate to break it to you, but dragons don't exist."

Hiccup crossed his arms and stood defiantly. "If you'll stop trying to shoot him," he said accusingly, "I'll show you."

He'd come a long way from the trembling child in the forest. Hiccup stood with his feet spread apart, his chin out and his green eyes flashing under a mop of unruly brown bangs. Had he been any taller, Will might have mistaken him for a man. There was no hint of madness or jesting about him.

Will stepped closer to the grizzled Ranger and muttered, "Halt…I think we should hear him out."

Halt sighed. "Oh, all right then." He replaced the bow and arrow in his quiver. "This should be interesting."

Satisfied, Hiccup turned about face and called into the trees again. "Come on out, bud. It's safe." He paused. "And don't scare them, for Thor's sake."

Will heard the barest trace of a footstep. Then another. Despite Hiccup's confidence, he felt himself tense. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to run or defend himself. A dark shape moved among the trunks of the trees. Twigs snapped, louder and louder, and Will thought he saw an eye gleam in the darkness. His heart beat wildly.

Finally, the last ray of the sun touched upon a creature that should not have been standing there. But there it was.

A dragon.

The beast was long and sleek, cloaked in black. Two huge wings were tucked in at its sides. It used its emerald catlike eyes to regard the group cautiously. A myriad of differently-sized flaps rustled around the dragon's face. Will automatically looked down at its claws, short but wickedly sharp and the color of ash. It could kill any of them with a single blow.

"Halt, Will," Hiccup said, "this is Toothless."

Will found his voice. "Doesn't he have any…teeth?" he said, curiosity overcoming his fear. He noted that the dragon wore a leather saddle made of crosshatching straps sewn around the edges.

"Well…yeah," he said sheepishly. "But he can retract them."

Will glanced back at Halt. He was shaking his head in awed disbelief. "By all the gods above and below," he said quietly. He shifted his gaze to Hiccup. "Boy, I still don't know where you're from, but you're out of your element here." Halt looked around. The woods were dark and still. "We've got to get you inside. Now."

* * *

><p>Will drummed his fingers on his leg nervously, checking the windows every so often. On the other side of the table, Halt marked on a set of papers and muttered to himself. The bone Toothless was gnawing on cracked, making Will jump.<p>

Hiccup had just finished telling Halt about his so-called home of Berk. He had woven a vivid image of an island where humans—or Vikings, as he called them—lived in isolation, recovering from a long feud with the dragons that lived across the sea by bonding with them.

He had also told them a fascinating tale of how he had found Toothless and why dragons were his allies. Something called dragon training, a girl named Astrid (from the sound of it, Will did not want to cross paths with her), and a fifty-foot tall monstrosity holding every lower dragon hostage for want of food.

As it was, Will found it quite hard to believe.

Halt tapped the map lying on the table. "You say none of this looks familiar?"

Hiccup nodded. He fingered his helmet mindlessly, which lay in front of him.

"And nothing happened before you found Will?"

He shrugged. "As far as I could tell, one minute I was on Berk, and the next…"

Halt nodded. "Now," he said, "before I tell you what I think, I'm going to be completely honest with you." His eyes flicked between Will and Hiccup. "I don't believe in magic. Never have. But then, I've never believed in dragons, either. So, right now, I think we should go out on a limb here. Wherever you come from, Hiccup, it's not here. I don't even think it's on the face of this earth."

"Well, then how—?" Will asked.

"I'm getting to that," Halt interrupted, before Will could go on another one of his endless question crusades. "I have no idea. Right now, I think our best chance is to look around for records of this happening before, if at all."

Hiccup nodded, and Will noticed his exhaustion. Halt did, too. "Get some rest," he said. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

**Why do I keep ending each chapter with a dramatic statement from Halt? Help!**

**So, I was thinking about throwing Astrid into the mix. Thoughts? Please review, you might get endless fame upon the next chapter of the story!**

**Oh, by the way, who heard about Brotherband Chronicles? SO EXCITED! It's an amazing story, go read it! And while you read it, keep HTTYD in mind. IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME FREAKIN' THING.**

**I'll stop blabbing. Go review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry...that was a long time. Here you go, chapter three. Personally, I think it's kind of suckish, but that's up for you to decide. I'm going to include some requests/advice from my reviews, 'cause you guys are awesome like that. :) Go on, what are you reading the author's note for? READ! (And review.)**

"Wait. Tell me again, _slowly._"

"OK." Smiling slightly, Hiccup turned in his seat and pointed at the replacement tail flapping next to its mirror image. "I started with that. It's four rods, held together with—"

"Canvas!" Will finished. "I get that part. It's _that _one I don't understand." He pointed at the complex rigging at the base of Toothless' wings. "Is it like a spool, or more like gears—?"

"Definitely a spool. So, depending on the way I tighten the stirrup, the tail responds to that tension and either flaps open or closed."

"Oh!"

Toothless shook his head, seeming exhausted with Will's constant chatter. He plodded alongside Tug and Abelard as the threesome traveled to Castle Redmont to search for any sign of crossing worlds. Halt was leading, listening to the pair of boys talk about the prosthetic tail Hiccup had made for his dragon. They were made for each other, Halt thought. Each had endless questions about the other and wasn't afraid to vocalize them. They were the same age, same build, same mindset. Halt was beginning to like him in the same way he liked his apprentice.

"Heads up," Halt called. "There's the castle."

Hiccup's eyes widened as he saw the impressive structure loom out of the trees. "It's huge!"

Will looked at him curiously. "Don't you have buildings this big where you live?"

Hiccup shook his head. "The dragons burned down anything bigger than that cabin you have back there." He thought for a moment. "Except for our mead hall. But that was built into the side of a mountain, so it was mostly stone."

Halt squinted into the distance. There seemed to be a rider approaching them. It was a Ranger's horse, no doubt, but it wasn't bothering to be silent or subtle. Even more strangely, it was Gilan. "Get into the trees, Hiccup," Halt said in a low voice. He heard the Night Fury back up into the cover of the forest. Will tensed but stayed where he was.

"Gilan!" Halt called out. "How goes it?"

Halt's old apprentice pulled up beside him. "You won't believe it!" he panted. "I think the Skandians have sent a teenager to spy on us!"

Will shifted in his saddle. "What makes you think that?" he asked.

"Well, for one thing, she's sealed up like a jar. Won't tell us a thing. And she's wearing the strangest things, the likes of which I haven't seen on any Araluens."

Halt relaxed as soon as he said the word "she." So nobody had found Hiccup yet. But this was starting to sound more and more like another crossing to him. "Where is she now?" he said.

Gilan jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Back at the castle. I left it up to the baron what to do with her."

Halt nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I've got some things I need to do. I'll see you in a bit, Gilan."

"See you, Halt. Will." Then he passed them and disappeared from view.

"He's gone, Hiccup," Will said softly.

Toothless emerged from the shadows of the branches, croaking curiously. Hiccup jumped off of him, unhooking his leg from the saddle. Before anyone could say anything, he said, "We have to get to the castle. Now."

Halt frowned. "What's the rush?"

"I know that girl." He looked up at the sky, as though searching for something. "That's Astrid."

* * *

><p>Will flipped through a stack of papers. "Wow. Araluen must be really popular." He counted the sheets. "At least…twenty instances of strange people appearing in the surrounding area with no idea how they got there."<p>

"Mm-hmmm." Hiccup watched the door, only half-listening. They were both sitting at a table in a library off the main hall, with a pile of dusty documents. Halt had left to find Astrid and Baron Arald.

"Don't worry," Will said. Hiccup looked at him. "Halt knows what he's doing. He'll be back."

The Viking boy attempted to smile back. "Yeah. It's just that…Will, how are we going to get back?"

"Well, that's what these are for." Will tapped the reports.

"Right. Let's take a look."

The two spent the next hour going carefully through the papers, looking for similarities. They read items of interest out loud to each other.

"Oh, here's something…'Three subjects (2 male, 1 female). Names: Unknown. Supposed land: England. Notes: Carrying wooden sticks, odd clothes, believes in magic.' Oh. Never mind."

"At least you tried." Hiccup picked up another one. "Ah, nope. Children of the gods, my foot…there seems to be a lot of two male, one female groups, though. Maybe Fishlegs is stuck somewhere…"

"I don't even think I can say that name. Ear-a-gon? Eray…um…Eragon? Something about a dragon."

"Really!"

"Yeah…but the man can use magic and the dragon can talk." Will tossed the paper down on the table. "This isn't helping."

"Come on; we just have to look a little harder! Is there anything about how they got back?"

Before Will could answer, the door to the library clunked and opened. Halt stuck his head in, hood casting shadows over his face. "Hiccup?" he said softly.

The sound of Hiccup's chair scraping backwards as he stood filled the room.

Halt opened the door wider.

"HICCUP!"

A blur shot through the door and tackled him, nearly knocking the poor boy over. "Astrid!" he croaked.

The girl holding him talked into his shoulder. "Hiccup, what are you doing here?"

"I have no idea."

Astrid pulled back and pushed her blond hair out of her eyes and scowled. "Then I suppose you don't know how to get back."

Hiccup shrugged. "Astrid," he said more urgently. "Where's Stormfly? Did she come with you?"

Astrid's spiked skirt swung as she lifted her hands to her face. "I don't know. I can't find her anywhere. What's going on? Where are we?"

"Astrid, I don't know, but I swear, we're going to get back to Berk. It'll be all right."

By the way they acted, Will guessed that they might be a couple, though he wasn't certain. It wasn't like he had experienced these things before, anyway.

"Will, did you find anything?" Halt asked.

Will brought his thoughts back to the present. "Nothing yet. There's plenty of people crossing over, but I haven't found the records of how they got back."

"Then I don't think we're looking in the right place." Halt scanned the shelves, stopping at the section labeled "Paranormal Activity." He plucked a file off the shelf. "This sounds promising—"

An uproar cut him off, the sound of footsteps and shouting echoing outside of the door. Halt put down the papers and muttered, "What the…?"

Will threw open the door. Men were running past the library, carrying shields and spears. Some were just barely putting their helms on. Will stopped one of them.

"Excuse me? What's going on? A raid?"

"No!" the man answered, his brown eyes bright. "We've found a dragon!"

**Dun, dun, DUN! That was pretty much improv, actually. Split-second decision. MUCH better than what I was going to do. You would have fallen asleep while reading it. Please tell me what you think! Like it?**


	4. VIKING'S APPRENTICE REBOOT

All right, I hate to be one of those fanfictions, but this story is being discontinued. My writing is so much more advanced now that if I were to update, you'd get whiplash from the difference in writing styles. I know you like the story but honestly this is not a good fanfiction. It has zero plot and I've mischaracterized everyone very badly. I can't rescue this story from its downward spiral.

**HOWEVER.**

If you guys really, really want me to, I've been considering rebooting "Viking's Apprentice." The only thing similar between this story and the one I have planned is pretty much just Hiccup and Toothless meeting Halt and Will and the rest of the gang. Basically, the two Rangers would go searching for Hiccup, the famed Dragon Whisperer, in Skandia in order to ask him for help dealing with Araluen's...unusually large problem. ;) I won't say any more in case you want me to write this thing.

But I'm not writing it unless I get sufficient feedback and support. With over 70 followers, I'm sure there's a good chunk of you who still care about the story, so please, if you would like to support this reboot, shoot me a PM, a review, something to show me you'd like to see this. If I see that there's sufficient enthusiasm about this, then I'll start writing right away! But the original story will not be continued either way; it'll stay up for anyone who cares about my dark fandom puberty days, but it will not be updated. Trust me, you'll like the reboot a lot better-it'll be darker, more exciting, longer, and I might even use HTTYD 2!Hiccup instead of HTTYD!Hiccup.

It's up to you, followers. If I reboot VA, will you read it?


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